Lady Titans beat Columbus 3-0, win third straight state championship

Saturday

May 12, 2018 at 12:34 PMMay 12, 2018 at 12:34 PM

By Matthew Caldwell Oconee Leader

ROME — The GHSA state tennis championship was held Saturday at a different facility as previous years, moving from Clayton County to Rome Tennis Center at Berry College, but it was the same result as the previous two seasons — the North Oconee Lady Titans were celebrating as state champions..

The Lady Titans defeated Columbus 3-0 to win the Class AAAA state title on a very warm Saturday morning.

“That was a ton of fun. It was great watching them. There were some early moments that were tough. It could have gone either way, then we hit another gear and got control of the match and put it away a lot quicker than I thought we would,” said head coach Erick Willis. “It was incredible. My first state championship as a head coach, which is a lot of fun. The girls were great to be around. Great competitors but super people, and that is what high school is all about — learning how to compete but do it the right way, learning how to work hard to achieve goals whether you do or not. For the seniors to finish with three state championships, that is extremely rare. Really exciting.”

Lindsay Tulenko was first off the courts with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles.

“I tried to focus and play my game and didn’t let anyone get in my head. I played my game and cheered everyone else on and hoped for the best,” Tulenko said. “It was really fun. I enjoyed being able to finish a little bit early to cheer everyone on because I think it helped the attitude of everyone else.”

The No. 1 doubles team of Kate Dukes and Jenna Tulenko were next off the court with a 6-2, 6-1 win. With the No. 2 doubles team of Amanda Bounds and Charlotte Hudson up a set and leading 4-2 in the second set and Aleksandra Tucakovic up a set and leading in the second set, it was a matter of who would finish first to give North Oconee its third point to clinch the match.

It was Tucakovic, who won her first set 7-5 and her second set 6-2, setting off the celebration.

“It was an awesome moment. I was so happy. I was really nervous throughout the match but I was hoping I would pull through and I did. I was really happy,” Tucakovic said. “[The celebration] was so fun. It was the best moment ever.

“It is my first year on the team and I was happy I could pull through for the team and win.”

One of the strengths of the Lady Titans throughout the run of the state of consecutive state titles has been their depth.

“That is the component that other teams can’t compete with. We are so deep,” Willis said. “They will change lineups to try to win somewhere and sacrifice somebody somewhere. It doesn’t work because all five lines are so good. For two doubles to play the way they did today was remarkable. They won’t show up as a winner because we finished earlier but they were well in control of their match. The momentum that that built was very encouraging to the other girls.”

With the talent coming back for next season, Willis said he believes the odds are good the Lady Titans will win a fourth straight state championship.

“I think the odds are very good, especially with Aleksandra getting the experience she got and our doubles team being so strong coming back,” Willis said. “Our two doubles will probably step into one doubles. We lose Kate and Hannah, which are great players. Jenna may step into singles, and she is an incredible singles player. I can go ahead and put it in Vegas — we are the odds on favorite for next year.”

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